Transforming data into insight with the Australian Academy of Science

By Carl Brown

Australian Academy of Science data strategy case study

Elevating analytics capability for the Education Program’s new websites

Background

As the Australian Academy of Science prepared to launch a suite of new Drupal websites for their Education Program, they saw a timely opportunity to reimagine how data and analytics supported their goals. The team had been using Google Analytics (both Universal and GA4) for years, but there was a growing awareness that they weren’t making the most of what modern tools could offer.

More importantly, the new websites represented a shift in the Academy’s service model—introducing more interactive, task-based learning journeys. This called for a different approach to measurement: one that could help them understand whether these changes were working, and provide strong evidence of their impact.

The challenge

Previously, the Academy’s analytics were focused on foundational metrics like downloads and visitor numbers. But these didn’t reflect the nuanced ways educators were engaging with the site – or the value they were getting from the content.

The team needed to dig deeper. They wanted to track user behaviour over time, understand patterns of return visits, and identify the content or actions that best supported educators. And because ongoing funding is tied to demonstrating outcomes, they also needed to be able to tell a compelling, data-backed story about the platform’s effectiveness.

There were also some practical curveballs – like managing the transition between two different versions of the Australian curriculum, each adopted at different paces across the country’s states. This made it especially important to understand how teachers were navigating between new and legacy content, and whether it was supporting their needs.

The approach

To support the Academy’s goals, we led a collaborative, step-by-step process that blended strategy, capability-building, and implementation support.

Co-designing the data strategy

The project kicked off with a series of workshops to map out strategic questions, align definitions (what does “conversion” mean in an educational context?), and document the user behaviours that mattered most. These workshops were designed to be engaging and inclusive – bringing the whole team along for the journey and creating a shared understanding of the role of data.

A custom data layer and scalable setup

Following the workshops, we created a tailored Data Layer Strategy, along with developer-ready documentation to guide implementation. The goal was to build something flexible and future-proof, supporting both current measurement needs and whatever enhancements might come later.

What is a Data Layer? A Data Layer is the connector between your website and a tag manager.

The data strategy also included recommendations for integrating with Google Tag Manager and BigQuery. The team wanted to own their data and have access to raw event-level detail for analysis. Their GA4 setup was structured to support this, with local data storage in SE Australia to meet their sovereignty requirements.

Impact

This project sparked a genuine shift in how the Academy works with data. The new setup gave them visibility into engagement patterns across different year levels, resource types, and content journeys – insights that simply weren’t available before.

One standout discovery was around the value of their “classic content” – resources that had been brought across from the previous site. Initially thought of as legacy material and ultimately intended for deprecation, this content turned out to play a critical bridging role, helping educators navigate from familiar formats into new curriculum-aligned materials. What began as a simple content migration ended up adding unexpected value to the user experience.

The project also helped build internal capability. The team didn’t just get a better analytics setup, they gained the skills and confidence to manage it themselves. They’re now able to explore their data independently, write queries in BigQuery, and answer complex questions about how their content is performing. That empowerment has had a ripple effect across the organisation, with increased interest in applying a similar approach to other parts of the Academy.

Australian Academy of Science website event data flow diagram.

What’s next?

The Academy now has a clear roadmap for making ongoing improvements to the user experience, supported by data. They’re exploring how to surface more insights from their engagement metrics, segment audiences based on behavioural patterns, and align internal reporting with the outcomes their funders care about most.

More than anything, this project demonstrated what’s possible when organisations embrace a data-led mindset. With the right strategy, tools and support, the Academy has laid the groundwork for ongoing learning, optimisation, and better support for science educators across Australia.

Want to turn your website data into real insight?

If your organisation isn’t selling products online but still needs to demonstrate impact, understand user behaviour, or guide strategic decisions—your data can do more. Whether you’re in education, government, not-for-profit, or any sector where “conversions” look a little different, we can help you build a meaningful, sustainable analytics strategy.

Let’s chat about how to make your data work harder.